Pressure points: Cup Series’ playoff picture intensifies at Indy

SPEEDWAY, Ind. -- Daniel Suárez had a pragmatic outlook on his playoff pursuit Friday, shortly after his arrival for NASCAR's race weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course. The driver of Trackhouse Racing's No. 99 Chevrolet enters Sunday's race just five points outside of the postseason field with three regular-season events left, insisting he wasn't stressing the points margin even if "it’s impossible not to look." A day later, Suárez's pole-winning outcome in Saturday's qualifying session changed his tune slightly and could shift the Cup Series Playoffs picture if the results follow suit. Keeping close tabs on his fellow postseason hopefuls during the course of Sunday's Verizon 200 at the Brickyard (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC, IMS Radio, SiriusXM, NBC Sports App) doesn't appear to be part of his plan. "I don't care. They have to worry about the 99," said Suárez, who enjoyed a 29-point rise in the playoff standings after last week's race at Michigan. "I mean, I say I don't care, but in reality, I care like 0.5%, so I care very little." RELATED: Weekend schedule | At-track photos: Indy Suárez aims to sustain some of his momentum as the fight for the playoffs clicks down to its final three rounds. That path winds its way from Indianapolis to Watkins Glen and Daytona in the following weekends, presenting a closing stretch of two road courses and a superspeedway -- venues where a driver's good fortunes can turn sour in a snap. Veterans Kevin Harvick and Brad Keselowski have the potential to clinch playoff berths on the basis of points this weekend. Their cushion remains steady, and those two should join the 12 regular-season winners as locks in the playoff field of 16. That leaves two spots up for grabs, with Bubba Wallace leading the group of drivers in contention, ranking 58 points above the provisional elimination line. He joked Saturday that he's also rooting for 23XI Racing teammate Tyler Reddick -- a road-course pro -- to win the next two weekends, which would prevent a new winner from muddying the playoff picture and hurting his cause. Wallace admits road racing is not his strongest suit, but that his best efforts at the discipline have come at Indianapolis. He's also made a conscious effort to block out any of the pressures that could accompany his bid for his first playoff appearance. "When you don't give a damn about things that makes things fun, right?" Wallace said. "You start thinking and overthinking and that dials yourself right out and it's not fun. So I'm a damn good person at overthinking things, especially when it comes to road-course racing and taking the fun right out of it. You just gotta go out and get back to the basics." Just behind Wallace is a thicket of challengers, with four drivers separated by 24 points. Rookie Ty Gibbs is now the provisional last driver in, clinging to the 16th spot by three points over Michael McDowell. Further back are Suárez (minus-5) and AJ Allmendinger (minus-24). MORE: Sunday's starting lineup | What to Watch: Indy McDowell nearly matched his best qualifying effort of the season, and his mild frustration with landing the fourth starting spot speaks to how well his Front Row Motorsports No. 34 Ford team has performed of late. He enters this pivotal three-race stretch with his contract status secured for 2024 -- both he and teammate Todd Gilliland will be back with FRM -- and a plan to maximize the team's Indy output. "I feel like we need to run top five in all the stages and finish in the top five to have some points, and we'll need a couple of those guys not to have a great run," McDowell said. "Obviously, with Daniel starting on the pole, they'll have a good shot at a lot of points tomorrow in especially that first stage. So I don't know. We'll see how it all plays out. I mean, the good news is we have the speed. We've just got to execute, stay in the fight and see what happens." Allmendinger was downbeat Saturday after an uncharacteristically subpar qualifying effort. The road-racing ace was asked what he was combating in his No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet and his answer was blunt: "Speed." He'll start 26th in Sunday's 200-miler, and is a former winner at both Indy and Watkins Glen. "Just fighting speed. I thought practice was a little bit better. We just completely missed the balance in qualifying there," Allmendinger said. "With the field that we've got now, if you miss it a little bit, it's not about making a top 10, top 12 out of it. You're buried in the field."